Donald Trump Pledges Not To Run As An Independent

Only weeks after Donald Trump refused to pledge not to run as an Independent should his Republican campaign fail, the presidential hopeful has turned around and signed just such an oath. The pledge was issued by the Republican National Committee, and says, “I, ________, affirm that if I do not win the 2016 Republican nomination for President of the United States I will endorse the 2016 Republican presidential nominee regardless of who it is.” The second paragraph makes each signee explicitly rule out a third-party run.

CNN quotes Trump as saying that signing the pledge is the best way to get a Republican in the White House in 2016. “So I will be totally pledging my allegiance to the Republican Party and for the conservative principles for which it stands,” he proclaimed.

In recent weeks, Trump’s rivals for the nomination–like Rand Paul–have accused him of not being loyal to the party’s cause. Even after Trump signed this pledge, another rival, Jeb Bush, tweeted pointedly at Trump in this vein.

However, Bush said that he would support Trump were he to win the nomination, citing the importance of being unified in the race for presidency. Still, the pledge is not legally binding, so the RNC can’t really enforce it should a candidate decide to break it. We’ll see if it comes to that.

(h/t Daily Dot)